flickr friday

I’ve been trying to write this post all day and…let’s just say I’m feeling somewhat less than articulate.  So now I’m giving myself permission to just mooooooove oooooon.  Hell, you probably don’t want to hear me blather on about nothing in place of a real, substantive post, anyway!  Let’s do each other a favor and just move on to the flickr friday eye candy, d’accord?  Oui!  Allons-y:

End of Olsons, Andrew Wyeth

The painting above is a tribute to Andrew Wyeth who passed away last Friday at the age of 91.  And here are some photos in his honor, as well:

goodbye old man

what he said

alvaro and christina

easterly

one’s art…

distant thunder

wind from the sea

Andrew Wyeth

And now, some others:

seven sins

emptiness

untitled

rising – Bread, NOT the Bruce Springsteen song.  Gah! I can’t stand Springsteen.  He’s just kind of a tool, isn’t he?

sorting dishes – Apparently I’m not the only one with enough dishes that they have to be sorted…

untitled

i’ve seen the paths that your eyes wander down.

Sheesh, that was a lot of pictures.

I want to be really excited about the weekend, but I have to work all day tomorrow, so it’s kind of bittersweet.  What about you — what are you doing this weekend?  Something warm, I hope!  It’s supposed to get super cold around here again, like subzero.  Bundle up, kids!  And have a great weekend — see you next week!

sunset

the fire feels divine, september 2008

I can’t help but ask myself how much I let the fear take the wheel and steer.

the art world has lost a legend.

I really was going to get back here and do a flickr friday post today, but I just heard some really sad news that merits some attention:

Painter Andrew Wyeth Dies at 91

First and foremost, my condolences to the Wyeth family.  We’re all mourning a talented painter and a remarkable man.  But they are mourning their husband (68 years), father, grandfather — my thoughts and prayers are with them today.

As you may or may not recall, Wyeth is my absolute favorite painter.  I’ve been lucky enough to see much of his work in person, both at the Farnsworth Art Museum here in Maine and at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.  And I’ve had the great fortune of attending several tours and one private lecture given by his granddaughter, Victoria Wyeth, who provides incredible insight into his work, his personality, his character.  In addition to creating stunningly gorgeous and evocative works of art, he’s a really fascinating person.  Here are some quotes that, I believe, shed a little light on who he is:

“Artists today think of everything they do as a work of art.  It is important to forget about what you are doing – then a work of art may happen. “

“I don’t really have studios. I wander around around people’s attics, out in fields, in cellars, anyplace I find that invites me. “

“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it…  Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show. “

“I’m a secretive bastard. I would never let anybody watch me painting… it would be like somebody watching you have sex – painting is that personal to me.“

“It’s a moment that I’m after, a fleeting moment, but not a frozen moment. “

“To be interested solely in technique would be a very superficial thing to me.“

“To have all your life’s work and to have them along the wall, it’s like walking in with no clothes on.  It’s terrible.”

“I get letters from people about my work.  The thing that pleases me most is that my work touches their feelings.  In fact, they don’t talk about the paintings.  They end up telling me the story of their life or how their father died.”

It’s a sad day for his family, for anyone who cares about art and creative expression, for America — we’ve truly lost a treasure.

More, if you’re interested:

• AskArt.com has an exhaustive biography of Andrew Wyeth.
• NYTimes.com has a great article about him.
• As does WashingtonPost.com.
• Just recently, I wrote about him here at Susie Songbird.
• And on flickr, I have a set of pictures dedicated to the Olson House, where he painted Christina’s World.
  

greetings from oblivion

Yes, I’ve fallen off the face of earth and I’ve landed here:

Sorry to have disappeared on you for a while there.  If you’re here, you haven’t given up on me entirely and I truly appreciate that.  Thanks for sticking around.  I came back to work on Monday after 16 days off and, while my desk may not look like the one in the photo, my workload is certainly making me feel like it should look like the one in the photo.  It doesn’t help that the end of the tax year occurred while I was away and now I have to play catch up on that stuff while trying to perform my normal daily tasks.  Oh, the insanity.  Anyway, I’m digging myself out, slowly but surely.

Christmas really sneaked up on me this year — somehow I managed to be ready (in an admittedly low-key sort of way) despite the utter chaos in my home.  However, I usually do a ton of baking in advance of Christmas and I didn’t do any this year (that probably goes without saying).  That lightened the load quite a bit.  Anyway it was a lovely, quiet Christmas that included a nice visit to the in-laws’ house in New Hampshire followed by some quality time with my loved ones as well.  Visiting and gift giving and breakfasting, oh my!  It was wonderful.

And then there was the rest of my vacation.  I pretty much spent that time getting my hands (and my hair on one occasion!) all gummed up with various home renovation materials like caulk, wood filler, primer and paint.  Joel applied wood filler to all the holes/gashes in the trim.  I sanded the wood filler.  Matthew contributed a hefty amount of time helping me prime and paint the trim, and then showed up with his professional painter brother-in-law who proceeded to paint the ceiling and put two coats of paint on all the walls in one day!  (Thanks, guys!)

Because we had the floors refinished during the week before Christmas, the painting completed during the week after Christmas, and the granite counter tops installed on Tuesday of this week…it means…oh my, it makes me want to weep with relief just to say it out loud…it means the kitchen is basically done.  Done!  It’s done.  The kitchen is done!!  DONE!!!  Ok, now I’m blubbering, so I’ll stop.  But in case you missed it:

THE KITCHEN IS DONE!!

We moved the stove, refrigerator, microwave cabinet, and a shelving unit back in after the painting was done.  I’ve been gradually adding things back to it this week and hope to do a bunch more organizing and decorating in there this weekend.  People, I’m starting to get my house back and I can’t tell you how much more peaceful that makes me feel.  I just don’t think I could have dealt with the chaos and filth much longer.  It took us six months almost to the day (started 3 July, finished 6 January).  But now it’s done and it’s beautiful.

I know you’re jonesing for pictures (some of you have been along for this whole damn saga and are demanding pictures) — I will do my very best to get some posted as soon as I possibly can.  Again, thanks for your patience.

top ten tuesday: to do on vacay

As you can imagine, due to the never-ending kitchen renovation, there isn’t much in the way of Christmas decorating going on around my house.  So I’m living vicariously through others.   I’m not asking for much, just a tasteful little light display:

I kid, I kid!  Seriously, why would someone do this to his/her house?  The electricity bill?  The wasted resources?  The light pollution?  The annoyance to the neighborhood?  The potential for traffic accidents due to rubber-neckers?  It’s a free country and all, but come on…

Anyway, on with the long-awaited next installment of top ten tuesday:  Things I’ve done so far or plan to do on my Christmas vacation:

10. prepare the wood trim in my kitchen for priming and painting
9. caulk all the cracks in the wood trim in my kitchen
8. prime the wood trim
7. spend time with friends and family
6. prime the wood trim again
5. eat lots of food, most of it bad for me
4. paint the wood trim
3. open presents
2. paint the walls in my kitchen
1. paint some more

Did I mention that last one already? Oops. It must be because there’s SO. DAMN. MUCH. PAINTING. TO. DO.  Sorry to get all shout-y on you.  I shouldn’t complain — the kitchen is thisclose to being done, so that’s a beautiful thing.  With any luck, I will start the New Year with a beautiful, new, finished kitchen…

flickr friday

This funny is pretty similar to one I posted last week, but I wanted to use it anyway.  I mean really, who wouldn’t giggle at least a little bit at the concept of a blowdryer-wielding bunny burglar:

And now that we’ve had a little chuckle at the expense of the snowfolks, I have to really dash through the rest of this post.  This is my last day in the office for two weeks and I have a ton of stuff to finish up before I leave today…

News
The kitchen floor looks amazing! AMAZING!  By the end of the day yesterday, they had sanded and applied two coats of polyurethane.  One more coat of poly today and it’s done!  It doesn’t look new, by any definition — there are some places where the floor is discolored due to water damage, but the worst of that will be covered with a small area rug — it looks like a refinished old floor and has great character.  It’s beautiful — I’m thrilled!  I’ll try to get some pictures up here soon…

This weekend brings the last (the last, I tell you) round of wall-surfacing and sanding.  Also, window caulking.  And then…  Then?  Painting.  PAINTING! (Did I not mention that the painting didn’t really happen last weekend like it was supposed to?  It didn’t happen.  Long story.)  I swear, it’s going to happen this weekend, even if it kills me.  Which it might.

Ok, on with the Flickr favorites for friday:

These first two go together:  img_5866e and img_6283e — I love watching flocks of birds when they do that shape-shifting thing (for lack of a better word).  So fascinating.

writing frightening verse… – Lovely photo, great song referenced by the title. Morrissey is such a bada$s.

golden hour

i have reflected… – Gorgeous photo, great movie referenced by the title. (I’m sensing an unintentional theme here…)

cluster – This one was taken by my friend, Kim.  I think it’s really beautiful, in that stark, New England winter kind of way.

* (untitled) – Finally, because this is the last flickr friday before Christmas, a little sparkle (“schlparkly!”) to wish you a Very Merry!

Have a productive and festive weekend — see you next week!

two more days

Straight to the funny today:

Let’s talk about my week, shall we?

Monday

• Three meetings – literally half of my day

Tuesday

• A meeting with the Vice President of my department regarding my interim job status (No updates or end in sight; just “keep up the good work and thank you very much.”  Alrighty then.  Will do.)
• My department’s holiday party
• A quick shopping trip to pick up gift bags and a specific gift before it went back to full-price
• A fun-filled evening of tearing up 50-year-old linoleum (A task which, frankly, sucked.  A lot.  I’m bearing the consequences today in the form of severe back pain.)

Wednesday

• Granite company came to make template of kitchen counters!
• An appointment during my lunch hour
• Quick food shopping to pick up and then prep the ingredients for a pot of chili
• Wrap gifts for my co-workers

Thursday

• Holy crap, the floor crew arrives at 8:00 to begin sanding and refinishing the kitchen floor!  I would be excited, but I kind of don’t believe it’s actually going to happen.  If I wasn’t already a bit of a total skeptic, this kitchen renovation has certainly made me into one.  I’ll let you know how it goes…
• Two-hour software training at work
• Assemble chili to cook overnight in crockpot
• Nothing else!  Thursday night is sacred!!

Friday

• Day Two of floor refinishing (final day?)
• One meeting, thankfully very low-key
• A holiday potluck lunch with my co-workers (now you know what the chili was for)
• College President’s holiday reception

Bear in mind this is just the stuff that’s happening in and around my regular daily workload and personal obligations.  Oy.  But after all this?  Say it with me now:  two whole weeks of vacay!  Woo, hoo!!

Next week maybe I’ll actually be able to think straight in order to plan and organize my Christmas gifts and wrap them in time for Christmas…

Hey, what about you?  What’s stressing you out during this season of universal insanity?  Please tell me I’m not alone…

five days and counting

…until I’m on vacation for two whole weeks! I seriously can’t wait. No doubt I will spend the entire time working on (finishing?) the kitchen. I don’t care. I’m happy for the time in which to do the work. And at least I can sleep in if I want to!

What’s that?  You want a funny to brighten up a gray December day?  Ok, I can do that:

Ok…so I’m two hours into the day now.  Four days and six more hours to go.  Four meetings and three holiday parties.  I can do this…really, I can…

flickr friday

Yesterday’s weather was true to its word and wreaked a bit of havoc around here.  Our power went off sometime in the wee hours of the morning, so no morning shower for me.  Instead I confirmed that there was power at my office, got up, packed a bag, and headed off to work (it was the last day of finals, so of course the College didn’t close).  I had to take one detour because there was a huge tree in the road, and then, on the detour, I had to carefully maneuver my way around a couple more trees that were leaning into the road — it was an interesting commute.  Only half the staff of my department made it to work, so it’s been pretty quiet around here.  I spent my lunch break at the gym taking a shower.  Hooray for running water!

So how about a funny to lighten the mood?

And while we’re at it, how about some flickr friday favorites?

roses and urchin

baked meringue kisses

stacked glasses

white christmas

untitled

pitcher

crawling into a large hole

Aaaaaaannnnndddd we’re done.  It’s Friday, friends.  Le weekend.  Happiness.  Have a good one — see you next week!

yes, it’s frightful

The weather forecast here in Maine leaves a bit to be desired, in my opinion.  We’re supposed to get some snow, followed by sleet and freezing rain with cold temperatures and gusty winds.  This is supposed to start any minute now and last through midday tomorrow.  Massive power outages are expected, which pretty much guarantees an outage at my house.  If it wasn’t the 11th of December, none of this would be that big of a deal — I could leave work early today and/or come in late tomorrow, if necessary.  Stay off the roads, in other words.  But I have stuff to do, you guys!  Painting of the kitchen is scheduled to commence first thing Saturday morning (more on that soon!) and I haven’t bought the paint yet!  And I still have quite a bit of Christmas shopping to do…  Fair warning, I may resort to the following as my excuse for the paucity of gifts this year:

“Sorry, Friends and Family, Santa’s been delayed indefinitely…  Can I freshen that drink for you?”  Maybe if they’re drunk, they won’t notice I didn’t get them anything…